Palmiers

Palmiers. so easy to make if you have boxed puff pastry, but so much more fun if you make it from the puff pastry that i have here. Making puff pastry from scratch is a bit time consuming, but it’s totally worth it. there’s just something satisfying about making your own puff pastry, then being able to eat it as a palmier because you get to see all the layers that have puffed up and your thought process is like WHA BAM I DID ALL THAT HARD WORK RIGHT THERE! I AM THE FREAKING BOOOMB!

there are also so many different variations on the palmier. you can have it super sweet with some bitter coffee (ew) or you can snack on them when you’re craving a bit of sugar (i do that all the freaking time). they can also be made savory, where instead of using sugar, you can use something like pesto or with ham. so damn good. and so many ways to eat them. yummers.

it’s so easy that a kid can do this. your kids can totally help you make this! having them spread the sugar and explain to them the math of halves, quarters, and such like that. tada!

what you need (for the basic palmier. variations will follow):

1 box of store bought puff pastry defrosted (or one batch of the puff pastry i already have posted up split up into 2 sheets)

1 c. sugar

preheat your oven to 425° and lay a sheet of parchment paper over a baking sheet….or you can use one of those fancy sil pat sheets….which i am dying to get my hands on.

take about 1/3 of the sugar and spread it out on the counter. this will take the place of flour to prevent the pastry from sticking. take each sheet of the pastry and roll it in the spread out sugar (so about 1/6 c. per sheet) until you get a 12″x 12″ square. then take 1/2 of the remaining sugar and evenly spread it out between the two sheets (1/4 of the remaining sugar per sheet) so now you have 2 sheets of pastry both covered in sugar and you should have about 1/3 c. of sugar left.

now, working with one sheet.

on the top and bottom of the sheet, mark it off into quarters, every 3″. then your sheet should look like this

_______________________________

| | | | |

| | | | |

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

| | | | |

|_______|_______|_______|_______|

3″ 3″ 3″ 3″

so you see that i have the sections numbered off….this is so then i can make it easier to explain.

take section 1 and then fold it onto section 2. then repeat with section 4 onto section 3.

sections 1 and 4 should now be meeting each other in the middle.

then fold this in half the long ways like you’re closing a book, and now you should have a strip of dough that is approximately 3″x 12″ and is 4 layers thick with sugar in between. press it gently yet firmly together so then it sticks.

repeat this to the other sheet of pastry

hopefully ive explained this well enough for you to understand it….. i need to get better at explaining :S and if i havent explained myself right, then just roll each side of the dough and roll it towards the middle and then press it gently….

take a super sharp knife and cut both strips of folded pastry into 1/2″ slices. do the math, and thats about 24 slices per roll, 48 slices total.

gently place each slice onto your prepped baking sheet about 1 inch apart with the cut side down. and sprinkle on the rest of the sugar.

now place the pans into the middle rack of the oven for about….7-9 minutes or until the bottoms are light brown and caramelized…this is where the kids should not be handling the food…unless you trust them around hot stuff….. take the palmiers out, and gently flip them over with a spatula. then bake for another 2-4 minutes….. you need to be ridiculously careful now because that sugar can turn black super quick, and dude that is so bitter and not good.

once theyre done baking, then quickly remove them from the pan and move them to a rack to cool completely.

tada! now youre done with the basic sweet palmier. guests will not be able to keep their paws off them 😀

ONWARD! TO THE PALMIER VARIATIONS!

cinnamon sugar palmier:

mix about 1/8 tsp cinnamon with the sugar before you start working with it

citrusy sweet palmiers:

mix together the grated zest of 1 lemon, along with 2 tsps of lemon juice with the sugar before working with it

for the following variations, omit the 1 cup sugar.

nutella palmiers:

take about 1/2 c. nutella per sheet and spread it out evenly. roll or fold the dough, and then chill it for at least 30 minutes before slicing it

gingersnap palmiers (the most time consuming out of the variations):

take 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. dark molasses, 1/4 c. water, and 2 tsps freshly grated ginger, and bring it to a simmer in a small pot, whisking to dissolve the sugar. let it continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes, until its thicken into a syrup. set it aside to cool while you mix up the sugar combo

before letting the pastry touch the sugar, generously brush the pastry dough with the syrup, then cover the pastry with the sugar mix. then fold or roll the dough. wrap in plastic tightly, then freeze it for 3 hours, or until its firm.

then take the log out, let it soften for a few minutes, slice them, and then dip them in the syrup mix before placing them onto the baking pan. let it freeze again for another 30 minutes. then afterwards, immediately transfer the pan to your 425° oven and bake it for 8-10 minutes. then before flipping them, wait a minute or two to allow the sugar to firm up a little and make it easier to flip. brush with more syrup and return the pan to the oven. kill the heat down to 400° and bake for another 8-10 minutes until darkened and carmelized. once theyre done, then remove them onto a rack, let them cool and tada!

cranberry pistachio with goat cheese palmiers:

now this one doesnt have measurements because it’s all up to you how much cranberries, cheese and pistachios you want.

take your room temperature goat cheese and spread it evenly as possible on the pastry. then sprinkle on the cranberries and pistachios. then follow the rest of the recipe for the regular palmiers.

spread 2 1/2 tbs tomato paste on each sheet, and then arrange 10 slices of prosciutto, 1/2 c. grated parmesan or pecorino romano, and ground black pepper on each sheet. then follow the given recipe, and bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes until golden brown, with no need to flip.

tada! so this is one of the longer posts that i have made, but its full of a ton of recipes for you to try XD have fun with it! and dude there’s so many more variations that you can try! if you find out another combination that is scrumptious, then let me know!